Grant writing in the big city

I’m currently in Blantyre, the “big city” in the Southern Region where I’ve spent the entire week in a conference room at the College of Medicine writing a grant in response to a PEPFAR RFA. For those not fluent in jargon, PEPFAR is The President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, the $15 billion package put towards HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment between 2003-2008, and was just reauthorized for another 5 years. RFA is a request for applications and funding agencies put these forth when they want to fund projects dealing with a specific problem.

I’m helping a group put together a proposal to improve the lab capacity and lab services for HIV diagnostics and disease monitoring in Malawi. The task is HUGE and is going to involve both improvements in education and training and infrastructure and services on the ground. Correspondingly, the grant is for A LOT of money. Writing a service provision grant is different then writing a research grant, but it’s also a lot of fun. It’s fun because there is a clear and direct link between your proposal and helping people. Creativity is still possible, and important. It’s cool to think about new and innovative ways to do something better.

Part of the grant requirement is to work with the CHAM hospitals in Malawi (CHAM = Christian Hospital Association of Malawi). One of the team members, R-, is currently a doctor at a 7th Day Adventist University in the U.S., but is Malawian and grew up here and worked in the Adventist Hospital in Blantyre for years. He has so many stories…the most interesting involve Dr. Kamuzu Hastings Banda, the first President of Malawi, who apparently used the Adventist Health Services. One involved Gil Burnham, the author of the controversial Iraq Mortality studies, who I learned was a doctor in Malawi with the Adventists when Banda was in power (I am constantly surprised by how many people have connections to this tiny country!). Banda didn’t show up to the National Day of prayer. Rumors started flying that he was dead. When R- returned home in the evening Gil’s wife was frantically worried about him because he had “been called to the presidential palace” early that morning and hadn't returned. Her worry was understandable in a time when being “called to the presidential palace” could mean that the person would “disappear”. R- calls the palace and is able to determine that Gil is okay, he’s been fed, and will be home soon. When an exhausted Gil returned home late that night the first words out of his mouth were, “Some people’s diarrhea is more important than ours.”

Today we visited the Malamulo Mission and the mission hospital. To get there we drove through the tea plantations of Thyolo with a view of Mt. Mulanje in the background. The scene is very different than Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe where I work! The building and grounds are beautiful; brick archways, gardens, and empty beds are the first things that come to mind. And the religious symbols.

Blantyre also has a very different feel than Lilongwe. Lilongwe is a government town and was designed by the South Africans to prevent crowds from gathering. Thus, it is spread out in disjointed areas and often feels like a conglomeration of suburbs. Blantyre is a real city with a center, sidewalks, street lights, robots (stop lights for readers back in the U.S.), and buildings with more than 2 stories! The city has a lot of energy and there are lots of young people. Mountains and trees surround the city, giving it a really nice feel. Unfortunately I’ve spent all of my time working, but I plan to take advantage of tomorrow’s public holiday to spend the long weekend hiking and trail running!